Original subtitles

This program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for

children under 14 years of age. Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater

care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children under

the age of 14 watch unattended.

Previously on Tilt. Didn't get your name though.

Eddie Towne.

Eddie?

Don Evers. What you need to do is satisfy your margin call.

$20 ,462.

I want Don Everest hanging in my basement next to the fixed -point

last winter. I think you can help me make that happen. I don't hunt.

What are you doing here? I scouted this game.

$5 ,000 buy -in with a bunch of stupid conventioneers who take a drink after

every hand they play.

This is my game.

So?

How'd you do?

Didn't go my way.

You forget my friend Phil runs that game. He said you cracked it for 20

What do you want?

The pockets are empty.

Who do you work for? Or do you want to try for two?

No! Seymour Hendrickson!

Seymour!

Did my name come up?

Forget about it.

What happens now?

You disappear.

I need to know where someone went. Now how am I supposed to recognize this

passenger? He doesn't have a face you'd forget.

Just like you said.

He put a man on him. He's not going anywhere.

The best in the game will tell you.

If you want to win at poker, don't play against the best.

There's no use being the eighth most skilled player in the world if the other

seven guys at the table are the ones that are better than you.

You picked the wrong opponent.

You can't win.

That's why game selection is so important.

In a non -tournament situation, you've got to choose your competition as

carefully as the cards you play.

It can be the difference between losing your buy -in and winning next year's

mortgage.

The newsman just sat down, and he's not staying here.

Gentlemen, you know, I need to have a moment with Mr. Everest here. If you

wouldn't, Nancy will show you right out. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Bye

-bye. No, he always calls us before he goes. We sent a plane for him. He can't

possibly be in Vegas. Yeah, but he is.

He loves to play hold 'em. And we love his bankroll, don't we?

And he's staying across the street.

If he winds up across the street, I'll consider every dollar they make a dollar

we lose.

Ah, well, it's Mr. Lois. All right, you fill out two.

How much did he dump last time he was here, anyway?

Well, I don't know. You boys took him for two million at cards, and then he

tried to catch up at the craps table. Dropped another nine million.

You know, maybe he's just tired of his odds here.

Maybe he thinks he can find a friendlier game with Eric Seidel or Johnny Chan.

There are poker champs all over this town. The particulars don't matter.

What matters is one of the last of the great whales has been my city, but not

my casino.

One visit from this guy bumps up our fiscal quarter.

Whatever has to be done should be done.

Get them in here.

Homie, hold my keys up, man. You got my keys?

Yeah. All right.

Anytime.

Checking in.

And you are?

McIntyre. Do you have your VIP card?

No.

Okay, do you have your rate card?

No, I don't. Girls?

No. I don't usually need one, you see.

Okay. Regular check -in is just over that way. This is the VIP area. This is

the big players only.

My line of credit here is over $10 million.

Okay. Sure.

I know all the plus tens.

And I don't know you.

So a regular check -in is just over there. I would like to talk to the

now.

Fine.

Danny.

Yes, what can I do for you?

I'd like a room.

Presidential, royal, suite, whatever you call it here.

Sorry, sold out. With a capital S.

Do you know who I am?

Those are my six favorite words.

If you have to ask, and obviously I don't.

Bart, I'm going to say don't pick me up, will you?

You are?

There he is.

Convenient that you happen to be here. I rushed right over. A man like you can't

be waiting out in the cold.

It's the desert, mate. It's not cold. It's balmy. At any rate, you're going to

be comfortable with us. We have your suite ready.

Should we bring the fellas with us?

The fellas?

The guys inside at the check -in and VIP desk.

They're gonna need a ride.

I'd, uh... They obviously work for you now. Might as well drive them over.

If you knew why you're coming.

Same reason everyone does in Vegas.

They like a good show.

You see?

That's the thing. You need to choose your opponents.

Or, at the very least, you force them to choose you.

Mac, good to have you back at the Colorado.

Sure, Jimmy.

So you got me to the cotillion. The question is, can you get me to dance?

I guess you didn't like that Texas two -step I taught you last time you were

here, huh? I remember.

I haven't forgotten anything you used against me.

Maybe we should sit down together again and see if I've learned any new tricks.

I don't feel like playing right now. How about something a little more

recreational?

Game of chance.

Blackjack, baccarat. I'll open a room for you.

Didn't you say something about a sweet bean, Lenny? Your bag's already been set

up.

The hell's with this clown? He comes to Vegas, he doesn't want to play.

Oh, we're going to play. He just wants to be the one to show me the where and

the when.

I slipped out of my share of tangled sheets, but I usually do it before the

wakes up.

Yeah, well, this time you didn't.

I wonder if that means anything.

Let's not attach too much meaning to it.

Yeah.

Well, there are two ways we can play this, then.

Pretend it didn't happen, or admit that it was fun and enjoy the ride.

Which is it going to be?

You know, there's not a lot of room for a relationship in my line of work.

Sorry, but you must have me confused with some girl you had to call the next

morning.

Crown rules.

Shoot. No nicknames.

No threesomes.

Unless it's your birthday, and I know you only have one of those a year. No,

where's this going?

No, who's that guy I saw you talking to?

If it gets too intense, you just drop it.

It gets too distant when we drop it. You never get to meet my mom, all right?

You never have to meet my mom, all right?

Deal?

Deal?

Deal.

Hard players never sleep, Ed. One sec.

Hey, Opportunity just flew in on a private jet.

Oh, yeah? I need you to play. It's a high -altitude game.

How high?

$300 ,000, buy -in minimum.

It's a seasonal thing.

Roy McIntyre just flew in from Australia.

I'll stake you, of course, anything close to 50 % of the winnings. So we're

taking down number 72 of the Force 400, huh?

Well, kind of, except for your average civilian.

He's a pretty damn good card player.

I thought I heard your voice.

Hi, Daddy.

Hi.

Well, I certainly hope there's enough of him left over because I'm gonna need

him later.

I can't promise.

Maybe we'll let him rest up and you can have breakfast with me.

Okay.

I left my bag in the bathroom. I'll be back.

You know,

no man really likes to think about the idea of his daughter getting pounded by

some guy.

But if it's got to be somebody, I guess it might as well be you.

Thanks.

I guess.

Ready to go?

You should eat better.

I like Chinese.

You knew my brother.

There's a golf tournament flag somewhere proves it. You can't win alone, you

know, not out here. Doesn't matter how good you are.

I won't stop.

I don't care if the police here refuse to help me. I'll do it myself.

Yeah, that's how this town was built.

Obsession over reason.

Your little protege slipped away, learned he traveled to Wyoming. I need

specifics. That's already more than I know.

Besides, he's had enough.

Look, all you're going to do is put Everest on alert, and that's going to

it hard on everybody.

So be it.

Nickel, you got acquisitions, you got circumstance, you got golf. Only a

schizophrenic would try to connect those dots.

Go home.

Crap some speeders.

Find somebody's lost cow.

I'm not going anywhere till I take him down.

Well, I wish I could help you. I really do, because I appreciate your drive.

But, uh, when we told you I could link the matador to anything, it was flat

wrong.

Frank Modette.

Kalispell, Montana.

What's his number? We're calling him. No phone. Doesn't trust him.

But he'll be able to tell you everything.

Dress warm.

Down the backstreet.

What's up?

Why are you here?

Condo's closing in on me.

Man has to breathe.

How'd you do?

Checked out that home game in Summerlin you told me about.

Wealthy crowd, but the way they played, you wonder how they got like that.

Forty? Forty -two, kept ten back for play.

You got any plans?

Beyond pizza and a beer?

No, not now. I mean, after we'd done this thing.

No, I hadn't really thought about it.

Think about it. Think about going somewhere, somewhere nice.

Like a vacation?

Longer.

You want me to stop playing?

Maybe there's a different life for you, you know, the regular kind.

Oh.

Watching Ellen and shuttling the kids to and fro from school and soccer, I'd end

up sucking on the exhaust pipe of the minivan.

There is a middle ground.

Yeah? Yeah?

You think so?

I do.

At 1530 Potlin, it was as soft as you said.

I can't believe you're here for the $2 parlay. What's up?

Wayne Nichols' brother's in town. He's gunning for Everest.

Blood is blood. I don't begrudge him his effort, but he's going to wake up

Everest if he hasn't already, and we are coming to the hard part.

Well, I can make it easier.

What can you make easier?

Whatever you want.

Sitting in the big game, and he's bankrolling me, and I keep half my take.

You could wind up winning more than you lost in the first place, so where does

that leave us?

Twisting the damn wind. Hey, I'm not going to leave anybody hanging.

I don't buy it. No? Why should I? What do we mean to you?

Nothing. I'm not in this for any of you.

But don't worry, because I'm going to contribute more than both of you anyway.

This time tomorrow, I'll be holding 50 -75 large for our cause, okay?

What?

You should be happy.

They don't trust you.

Why should they?

Miami, she was a little kid.

Everest destroyed her life.

Ditto me.

Clark? Yeah, what about him? He's got his own personal demons. This life has

cost him plenty.

Can't expect them to understand you. They don't know why you're here.

Well, I'm here because of you.

You dragged me into this thing.

If you didn't tell me I was cheated, I would have been stuck playing 5 -10 in

East Coast clubs the rest of my life.

Just another small -time loser like my father.

And I was actually making peace with that.

But when you told me that I didn't lose, that I was taken, well, things made

sense.

Clark and Miami don't get me. Join the club.

You're the only place I know who the hell I am is at the card table.

And ever stripped me of that.

But I don't need to explain myself to them or anybody else.

As well as you read people.

If you can't figure out who your friends are, or worse, you can't find any, then

the distance between you and the guy who stole your money is pretty thin.

Yeah, the money's waiting in the cage.

That's right.

Well, ten million.

And there's a line of credit for another ten that's still active.

So, uh...

Can you give us an indication of when you want to play?

No, of course not.

No,

we're ready when you're ready.

We serve at your pleasure.

Nothing, huh?

Guy's propped up in a $20 ,000 a night suite and he can't be bothered to give

a play.

I was hoping I could count on you for some lumber.

Going into a game like that with less than a million dollars is like shooting

elephants with a pop gun.

Aw, gee, Don, right now? You don't have to take it out of your own pocket.

We can slip it out of the account room like usual.

Write it off as a short -term loss, and I'll have it back in there before a

county finds out.

No, I don't think so.

They got me pinned to a wax tray. They're looking at me through a

This place isn't our personal cookie jar anymore.

Since when?

Clark.

What's going on?

Long time.

How are you?

Not as good as you, Dean. That's for damn sure.

Look at this place, man.

Hello?

What's up?

Well, I'll get right to it. I need some capital.

Yeah, I win.

When what?

Well, I talked to Sheridan. I told him you were coming. The over -under on how

long to ask for money was five minutes and one in a walk. Clark, a walk.

I'm going to need you to vouch, okay?

Yeah, sure.

Look,

I need a hundred cash for a venture I'm getting into.

A hundred?

Come on, man.

Okay, 75 then.

I did come up with the market algorithm that got you all this, right?

Tell you what, I'm going to write you a check for $20 ,000.

$10 ,000 for your initial investment and $10 ,000 because you did come up with

the algorithm.

But Clark, we built this company without you.

Shergan and I and the other guys were trading by day and deal -making all

while you were playing internet poker looking for quick scores.

$20 ,000 is crap, man.

When you took company funds to play that Matador guy, you forfeited the rest.

The fact that we haven't sued is only because we were friends once.

I was better than him.

Okay, and I should have won. I was cheated.

Sure you were.

And you shouldn't have been tossed out of school, and your dad could have

you out, but he didn't. And you know what? You didn't really take company

You just kind of borrowed them.

Sign here for the check.

Here for Schergen.

See you around, Dean.

You were very tense, Seymour.

Nothing you can't handle, Eco.

It's a private session.

Well, believe me, honey, I'm not here for the rub and tug. I just want to have

little chat with my friend.

It won't take more than a minute.

Wow. Great to see you, Seymour.

You're looking good.

Did you ever reconcile everything with Evelyn?

Well, guess not.

She was a good woman, though.

They keep us grounded.

God knows I owe everything I got to my two girls.

Why didn't you look me up?

I hope you're not hanging on to all that stuff that happened in the past.

This is the wrong town for your charitable instincts.

You're through.

Stay out of town.

I guess from your point of view, I kind of forced your hand.

But we were young then.

I'm getting way too old to hold a grudge.

Besides, it was all business.

Seymour.

Trouble is, you and I always took business very seriously, didn't we?

Whatever happened to that kid that was working with you?

You know, the one with the nose and...

All the funny twitches.

If there's anything you want to tell me, you should tell me now.

Maybe, like, why you're here?

I'm just, uh... I'm just here for the dry desert air.

I see.

Well, that's fine.

Um, I just wanted to welcome you back.

Anytime you want to stop by the casino, just come on in.

Okay?

Are you Frank Modest?

What do you want?

Seymour Andersman sent me.

Did he ever get to the top of that rope?

I guess he's had his ups and downs, like most of us.

But he said you could tell me more.

What can you tell me about Wayne Nickel?

Related to you?

He was my brother.

And he was killed.

Now.

What can you tell me about Wayne Nickel?

Nothing.

Well, then what can you tell me about Don Everest?

Sounds familiar.

That actor?

How exactly do you know Seymour?

I was his grade school gym teacher.

He never could climb that rope.

When you're playing against a billionaire, even a rich man needs some

That way I can keep him playing long enough to win.

I don't need a lecture on gaming, Don.

And I don't like it when this sort of thing comes back to me.

Well, speaking of a comeback, guess who's back in town?

Our old pal Seymour.

Son of a bitch.

After all these years.

This is why you don't let a guy off of the canvas once you got him down.

What does he want?

Well, he was a little reticent on that count.

This is bad news.

I can't even remember half the things we did to get us here, but believe me, he

can.

I don't think he wants to remember anything.

You know what all fire eaters die of?

No. A belly full of gasoline.

What does that mean?

It means danger you don't see.

I'll take you out.

Are you suggesting I do something?

A little friendly counsel.

All right.

How much do you need to play McIntyre?

Can I help you? Hi. Is Marty Martin Faye here?

No, Martin's not home right now.

I'm Miami.

I know who you are.

You can come in. I just brought something for him, but I can give it to

he'll want to see you.

It won't be long. He's always home for dinner.

that I owe you another thousand because it took me so long.

You didn't have to pay me back.

And I definitely never said anything about interest.

I believe all I said was stay.

You look good.

Thanks. So do you.

Your kids are really cute.

And your wife seems really nice.

Yeah.

So, still playing?

Every day.

Doing well.

I've had the money to pay you back for a long time. I don't know why I haven't.

You?

Monthly game with friends, you know.

But being in the courtroom every day, it's kind of like playing poker.

Kind of.

You used to be the last one at the table with me.

Now look at all this.

It's funny, huh?

What's it like?

It's a lot of work.

A lot of responsibility.

But it's great.

Do you miss anything?

Like the nights and stuff?

Sometimes.

When you find someone who has the same goals and interests as you do,

kind of falls into place.

You know, it was tough at first.

When you left.

I never promised I'd save her.

No.

You didn't.

In fact, you were the one who said it's only for now.

I didn't want to believe it.

Even when I gave you the check.

Even when you drove off.

You know, I thought we could have had all this together. I'm really happy for

you.

Will you stay for dinner?

No, I gotta go. Get going.

Yeah.

You gotta keep moving, right?

Rabbit is out of his hole.

And a hundred bucks a hand will be in the ground before we take him at this

rate.

Gotta lube him up.

It's already in the works.

Never seen her get the brush before.

Well, I hope you have a plan B.

Hey.

What's up?

I was warned.

You were warned?

By Everest himself.

Did he hurt you?

No, not this time.

But it's over.

It was a bad plan hatched by a man who was past it.

I never should have brought your kids into this.

And I definitely should not have come back here.

I was lucky to get away the first time.

I considered what you said about middle ground.

I don't think there is any.

You are one thing or you're the other.

from us.

More than money. He took the best of us and you gave us a chance to get that

back.

It's not going to happen. So go round up the others.

Why?

Magidar hasn't clocked us.

Let us take you from here.

You leave town. We'll call you. We'll tell you how it goes when it's done.

We were getting somewhere. You said it yourself.

We can handle ourselves.

You taught us well.

I'll go get the guys. We'll regroup.

And I'll see you soon.

That's the one I was waiting for.

Yeah?

Mac?

Sounds good.

Okay.

Finally ready.

That's 300 large for you.

The game's at 10. Go to the bar and wait.

And don't drink.

Buy you another drink, lady?

You know, I got more money in my pocket right now than I've handled in my whole

life. What's it feel like?

It's heavy.

You know, you could walk out that door and vanish.

And he wouldn't know where he went.

Neither would we.

Well, I don't want to do it that way to any of you.

Noble. No.

I just want to win.

Yeah.

You think there's such thing as really winning in this life we chose?

You mean besides the size of our stack?

Right.

Yes, I do.

You know, let me tell you something. When you're the best, when you can beat

best and you have beaten them, that's excellence on the highest level.

The kind of understanding that only a handful of people in any given field

achieve.

And to me, that's winning.

Of course, it doesn't really count if there's cheating involved, does it?

You know, I'm not really sure that it is cheating.

Oh, God.

Here's where it starts.

You know, I wanted to believe it.

I thought it was, but... He's handed me a lot of money and he's never said the

word cheat to me.

I mean, so far he's just staked me the way it happens all the time all over the

place. What are you doing here anyways?

Looking for you.

Yeah?

Seymour got raced by your benefactor this afternoon.

I told him to leave town.

Seymour's leaving? What are you talking about?

What did he ever say? Does he know about me? I don't know.

I don't know.

Guess who?

Hey, um, remember what I told you about home field? Oh, Daddy doesn't seem to

mind. I just heard you were playing with him. I just came to wish you good luck.

Yeah? Why don't you walk me over?

Okay.

Who's she?

Nobody. Hey, I got to talk to Eddie for a minute.

Want to go find something to do?

Okay, sure.

There you go. Thanks.

Good luck.

Listen, once we get inside, I'll be sitting already, but you won't.

If everything works out exactly like I figured, you'll be there before long.

Great. Here's a pop quiz for you. What are these?

Your fingers.

Right.

Spades, diamonds, clubs.

cards. Now here's how you check your cards.

Ace -King, Queen -Jack, Ten, so on and so on and so on.

If I clear my throat before I raise, then you re -raise.

If I don't, then you fold.

Understand? Yeah, I understand everything now.

Eddie, we're going separate.

You shouldn't ambush a guy in the latrine. He might get the wrong

If I was ambushing you, you wouldn't know until it was too late.

I'm here to put you on notice.

About what?

About who you're hooked up with.

You seem young enough that you might not be wired all wrong yet.

Yeah, I'm not so young that I'm going to talk to strangers in the men's room

either. I'm not a stranger to you for long. We're going to be real close.

You're a long way from home.

And I hate being away from home.

I got a wife, kids.

All that wonderful stuff.

But I used to have a brother.

I can't help you, buddy.

I saw Everest give you hand signs like a third base coach.

I saw you with his daughter.

But I also have first -hand information about what happens to guys like you when

he gets tired of them.

It's this.

That's him.

That's my brother, Wayne.

A body bloats up like that about 48 hours after it's dead.

Think about that.

and watch your back.

Next time I approach you, there may not be any mirrors telling you I'm coming.

You're late.

Well, apparently I'm not late enough because Mac's not even here yet.

Do you think he's going to bail on us? No.

I think he's already playing.

Where?

Right up here.

He's going to show. You should make yourself comfortable because I don't

he's going to be here for a while.

I'm going to sit down.

What a sorry -looking lot.

Oh, now, come on. It's just a group of people who are anxious to meet an

important man and an impressive player.

Roy, welcome.

Have a seat. Meet the boys.

Yeah, look, I know that you're a man who likes the company of his friends, but

I've got a different idea this time. See, I've been working on my game, and

like a scientific measure of it with as few variables as possible.

Look, these other guests have been greatly anticipating a game with Mr.

Oh, let the man speak. He's mine. It's all right.

Hmm.

Uh, Sammy, Frank, and Dino, I recognize from our last sit -down.

Well, the man doesn't want variables, so, uh, we'll lose the variable.

Variables. Another place, another time.

So.

Let's go to the board for another one, eh?

I don't know.

Not much of a list for a game at these things. Just, uh... E .T.

Who's that?

Yeah.

That would be me.

And, uh... How did you acquire the funds for this young man?

Stole a Salvation Army kettle last Christmas.

Well, that's how I got my career started. Take a seat.

That's rock and roll.

Demar?

Huh.

Well, the stuff's gone.

I got to go now. Yeah, maybe I should make the same play.

What are you talking about?

I look at you two.

You know, you were born to it. Eddie was born for it. I'm just wondering what

the hell I'm doing here.

Yeah.

I wondered the same thing about you.

With your mind, you can do anything.

Then I tell you, play.

Let's go.

Cool.

I can see you're playing real well.

Thing is, I don't know where you find the time to learn.

Between the acquisitions and the liquidations.

How do you know which one to buy and which one to sell?

Well, if I think a company will burnish my mantle, I buy it. They develop a

little bit of a rust on them, I unload them.

Is there more to that story?

I call myself completely addicted to internet poker.

I stay up so late every night that I haven't had sex with my wife for months.

Yeah.

Dream of women every night and wake up hard as the mitten moss every morning.

Now I just dream of cars.

That's quite a tale.

I don't know anything about your wife, but whatever it is that you're doing,

it's really helping your play.

It's $25 ,000.

I'll read Ray.

Turned into a bit of a scrum, hasn't it? Yeah,

kind of. Usually does.

At least we're not bored.

Twenty.

I'm going to add 140 to the pot just to keep you honest.

Well, I got to tell you, there's nothing but heartbreak down at the end of that

road.

Plenty of young ladies out there that will attest to that.

So here's 140.

And another 140.

That you're trying to chase me out.

Won't work.

Cool.

Wait a second before you bet.

Mac, let me ask you a question.

With all you got, why do you got to play me so hard?

Oh, I like the action.

Oh, come on.

Come on.

You're the only man who's ever consistently beaten me at anything.

Ever.

And I can't stand.

I'm all in.

Well, I guess I'll just have to call then.

Eights and nines fall.

Kinda takes the shine off that flush, don't it?

I'll tell you the odds of catching that seven of clubs for a straight flush on

the river.

You had to look at that twice, didn't you?

You know, Mac, great card players aren't trying to prove anything.

They're just trying to take each other's money.

Greatly improved, though. Good game.

I need a breather.

I guess we'll call it that.

At the highest level, courage, bankroll, desire, and talent are at play in every

hand.

A player who can combine these things has in him what the Texans call gamble.

The

thing

is, You can have plenty of gamble and win most of the time.

But if you run across an opponent who's got more, you're going home gutted.

On the next hill.

You hear what happened over at the Palais?

Guy took a header over the railing, ran it on a bank of slots.

Pretty used to run the sports book here.

Let's just find the bankroll and get out of here.

Hey, Eddie.

I've ever seen them a clean house.

I know.

I might be next.

Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? I'm going to kill that son of a bitch. Whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Get off me. Get off me.

You can't do it that way. What then?

We break them at the table.

Hey, what the hell's going on here?

This was not a suicide, what I see here. Yeah.

You might want to think about that if you plan on messing around in this town.

I picked up a couple of clients recently who have, for whatever reason, decided

they want to pay me in cash for financial service. We can't just deposit

cash in our bank account. We have to trade it.

Casino is the perfect place to do that kind of thing. And Clark, you, my

you are the... Perfect man to help us do it. Why, somebody's on quite a run. Why

don't you take those stacks up to the top section and give me a play?

It's not enough yet.

If you're going to make poker your job, you're going to have to learn to leave

it at the office.

You learn that from your father?

Sure.

He taught me everything I know.

Take a look at that.

You're going to want a piece of this.

Yeah, maybe I should sit this one out. It might not be objective enough.

You're going to be fine.

All right, I'll play.